Anywhere But Here
by sammyboyaldaway
Summary: Deeks disapperars on an LAPD op. 5 years later he returns to NCIS but is he the same man that left? Rating may change later
1. Chapter 1

Sam walked into OSP that morning with no inkling his life would be turned upside down once again.

Strolling through the heavy Mission doors, he looked around the courtyard for the rest of his team. Seeing he was the only one in yet and Hetty was mercifully absent (he may have avoided her last night when the team finished their latest case because he managed to destroy a $6,000 suit and was trying to avoid the inevitable scolding he was bound to receive) he sighed and turned the corner leading to the teams desks before halting abruptly looking at what he could only assume was a carefully constructed mirage, placed there by Hetty. Realising Hetty would never be that cruel to the team Sam was force to consider the fact that what he was seeing was real , leaving him unable to decide which was worse.

5 years ago L.A.P.D. Liaison Officer Detective Marty Deeks was working as a member of their NCIS OSP team as Kensi's partner. He helped them with their cases and supposedly was meant the assist with co-ordinating the cases shared by LAPD and NCIS. The only problem being that the LAPD Officers hated him until he was needed undercover and then he was the most loved and respected man in the Department.

Nearly 4 years ago to the day Deeks had been called away on a deep cover assignment, the team were not happy about it but could do nothing as he wasn't a NCIS Agent. So they let him go, each person giving him a solid piece of advice, knowing that they wouldn't see him for up to a year, and Deeks took their advice to heart knowing that even though the advice they gave was rather basic and he had been undercover before, it was the teams' way of saying goodbye.

So he left the Mission that afternoon in August and went back to LAPD for his briefing and from there to his undercover assignment. The team kept tabs on him for a while, for as Hetty had once said "He was their Liaison, and as close to family as it gets". They monitored his GPS and Hetty used her connections within the LAPD to receive notification every time he checked in, and everyone was happy. Well as happy as they could be with one of their own away and in danger with no backup. That was the thing Sam hated most about Deeks doing undercover work with LAPD, was he hardly ever had reasonable backup and the people Deeks was forced to rely upon within LAPD weren't exactly trustworthy or caring; there was no sense of team like they had at NCIS, one had only oneself and a gun and Sam knew that often it wasn't enough. So the team kept tabs on him as much as they could (which seeing as they had Eric and Nell doing the tracking was pretty well) until; about 3 years ago and 11 months into Deeks' undercover op, he vanished. He was gone from satellite and GPS and his alises home was found shot up and empty with bloodstains inside. It was as if he vanished into thin air.

The team had immediately wanted to jump straight into the case and find him but were forbidden by Hetty until they were officially notified of his disappearance by LAPD. The team went ballistic over that and argued for hours with Hetty, finally giving in after Hetty told them all to shut up and how she would love to go find him right that minute because he was like a son to her but did they stop to think how they may do more harm than good because maybe he wasn't missing but instead his cover required him to go off the grid for a while and he may have already notified his handlers at LAPD. Charagrined the team gave in to her request. A vigorous search was conducted by NCIS a week later after Hetty was officially informed, LAPD having kept them out of the loop on purpose while they did their own piss poor investigation, but even then no trace could be found.

The team was devastated. Callen beat himself up for not training Deeks harder, Eric and Nell blamed themselves for not tracking him better and Hetty blamed herself for not applying more pressure for him to become a full time Agent and for not starting the search earlier.

The team was falling apart, fighting with each other, taking on each day like it was a deadly campaign; the word with the criminals on the street became 'Stay away from Navy Personnel cuz the Navy got cops scarier than the KGB and deadlier too'. It grew to be so bad, the director, having sent Gibbs to Los Angles to asses the situation and got him sent back frazzled, rundown, irritable and tired; with his conclusion that it would be easier to work in an aircraft engine than at OSP at that moment; recalled Nate from an active war zone to help the team.

Sam had been the rock through all of this trying to keep the team together while desperately missing the man he had come to think of as a little brother. But by far the worst member of the team was Kensi, not wanting to allow history to repeat itself she worked tirelessly every night going over clues hoping to find his whereabouts, hounding both LAPD and NCIS personal, refusing to work with another partner until she was eventually banned from stepping foot into the LAPD precinct and Sam and Callen pleaded with Hetty to order her to see Nate, all three knowing she was unlikely to talk to anyone but Deeks but needing her to talk to someone.

So it was to Sam's immense shock and disbelief to turn the corner to his desk that morning and find none other than Marty Deeks sitting at his desk filling in paperwork as if he had never left. Looking closer Sam could see noticeable differences between the two time periods, he was thinner and sharper looking than he was when he left and he held himself with an awareness Sam was surprised to see from the laid back detective.

Deeks glanced up from his desk briefly saying politely "Good Morning Agent Hanna"

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AN: SO? Do you guys like it? Let me know please :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, they were amazing and special thanks to for her __very__ passionate review. Loved it!_

_As per usual I don't own NCIS LA or its characters But Damb would I love to._

_I do own Jade however so enjoy_

_Thanks_

_"Good Morning Agent Hanna"_

Sam was in shock; it was impossible for him to comprehend what his eyes were telling him was right there. He could hear the laughter as Callen and Kensi wandered into OSP but he could not begin to process the information. All he could think was sitting in front of him was a man who he hadn't seen in so long he had presumed he was dead; the shock of the revelation having left him immobile and barely able to speak above a whisper.

"Deeks?" Sam whispered, causing Kensi and Callen to look at him in confusion before turning and, upon seeing the figure at the desks, freeze to the spot.

The silence around the group was overwhelming as Kensi, Callen and Sam just stood and stared at their friend and Deeks just continued on with his paperwork, for all intents and purposes uninterested in the turmoil his presence had kicked up in the team.

The silence was broken when a figure walked into the bullpen and a voice called out "D get off you ass and make me a coffee. God how I missed American coffee, its so tasty and strong not like that miserable tea we ha-. Oh whoops I see I interrupted" The figure finished off giggling.

Deeks looked over at the woman who had spoken "Agents this is Jade' he said making the introductions 'I'm going to see Agent Lange and Jade make your own damb coffee, I am not your slave" he finished before walking over to the stairs "Behave now Jade"

Kensi's eyes followed Deeks' retreating back, not sure if she would be able to believe he was home. There were so many emotions she felt and most conflicted each other; she could feel the jealously for the woman called Jade within her but chasing it was also happiness that he was finally home, relief that he seemed mostly unharmed if not a bit more cautious and aware than usual; and the completely unreasonable feeling of betrayal for him having left her in the first place. Her brain told her that it wasn't his fault that he left but her heart was telling her he should have found a way to contact them, let them know he was alive, instead of leaving them to dwell on the feelings of inadequacy they had felt at not being able to protect one of their family.

Trying to ignore her emotions and avoid the inevitable emotional breakdown sure to befall her, Kensi looked over and studied the woman called Jade; she was medium height with long amber hair, a pale complexion and sharp features. She had the look of caution in her striking emerald eyes that one would find on any operator who knew they were in a hostile environment and a situational awareness of her surroundings that was pinpoint and exact; the type of awareness that only came from long periods in deep cover and from seeing the utter harshness of the world lay bare at you feet.

Kensi noticed Deeks was now at the top of the stairs walking along the corridor. Kensi was about to speak to Jade when a whistle pierced the air and before anyone could stop her Jade spun around and threw the K-Bar knife, which had (magically it seemed) appeared in her hand, at the source of the noise which just happened to be Eric. Seeing the knife fly through the air Kensi's mind flew to imagining the horrible scene at Eric's funeral where he was buried and Nell was crying over his casket, for never once did it occur to Kensi that Eric wouldn't die from the throw and later she would be annoyed in herself at having such faith that this petite woman in front of her could be so deadly.

Kensi waited for the inevitable scream or yelp from Eric, signalling the knife's penetration of his body. When none was received she refocused her attention to the balcony above and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the knife, that had previously been flying at Eric with amazing speed, held firmly in Deeks' grasp inches away from Eric's face; while Deeks in question leaned lazily against the barrier and Eric looked like he was about to faint.

Moving the knife away from Eric, Deeks flipped it in his hands a couple of times before letting it rest with the blade in his palm. A smirk grew on his face that even from that distance Kensi could tell didn't reach his eyes. Looking around Kensi saw that Jade looked thoroughly unconcerned she nearly caused the unnecessary death of one of the team, Kensi was about to send a very cutting remark her way when Deeks interrupted her.

"Now Jade I thought I said behave. That means no throwing you K-Bar at the Tec" he said before nonchalantly tossing the knife back at her. Jade reached up and grabbed the knife, tucking it back in her boot before replying

"He is damb lucky he's not dead after that stunt, he does it again and I be throwing more that a knife" she said casually before wandering her way up the stairs.

Eric, still looking terrified at his near death encounter, gulped loudly at her threat. Deeks clapped him on the shoulder "Lay off the whistle for a while, she isn't kidding and if it wasn't that I have heard you whistle before you would have had two knives thrown at you and you would be dead now" he said before turning and walking into the Ops room with Jade, each taking a corner at the back of the room to stand where they could keep an eye on the door and the occupants of the room.

The team were still standing in the bullpen, completely stunned at what had just happened.

"Did Deeks and that girl just throw knives around like they were made of plastic?" Callen asked

Sam nodded "Where ever he has been it has been hard. He isn't the same man he was when he left here. He seems more military now and she's just cold and deadly" he finished his analysis

Kensi nodded her head agreeing with Sam before remembering that the woman who had nearly killed one of her best friends was now in a room with Nell and Eric and she wasn't exactly comfortable with that. Clarifying her fears to the boys they made their way up the stairs as Callen spoke.

"You don't need to worry about Nell and Eric, Kensi. They will be fine as long as Deeks is there, he'll protect them."

Kensi didn't want to eradicate all of Callen's remaining faith in Deeks so she kept her misgivings to herself but couldn't stop the thought running through her head.

"_Would he protect them? He has changed so much, he's colder now. I don't think I trust him to keep them safe anymore"_

_AN: Ok sorry if Deeks seems a bit cold but it's been hard for him while he is away. So sorry if some people don't like him like that it will get better, Kensi is very stubborn after all. So Reviews are very much appreciated and any mistakes with spelling and language that I missed in my own spell check please fell free to point them out. Thanks and any tips for bettering the chapter are also greatly appreciated_

_PS: Don't ever try grabbing knives which are flying through the air, you end up with many stiches. :(_


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